Blackmail
by Simon920
Summary: What do you mean she's pregnant?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: These guys aren't mine, they don't belong to me, worst luck, so don't bother me.

Archive: Fine, but if you want it, please ask first.

Feedback: Hell, yes.

**Blackmail**

"Batman, sorry to bring you out on a night like this but I thought that you should be aware of this; it arrived about half an hour ago." Gordon handed over the thick legal sized envelope. The name on the front simply said "SPECIAL DELIVERY. ROBIN, CARE OF GPD. PRIVATE!!!!!! SPECIAL DELIVERY."

Receiving mail at headquarters was common enough and standard procedure was to open it, see what was inside, forward the few personal letters to the addressee and deal with the rest. Most of the mail for the costumed segment came from strangers, many asked for money or were parents asking help with troubled kids, kids asking for help with troubled parents, invitations to children's birthday parties, home baked cookies and, once in a while, a lead on a real case.

Almost none of the letters and packages were ever seen by their intended recipient. They went to a commercial fan answering service for standard answers, pictures and the like or were destroyed. The threats were forwarded to the FBI.

This, however, needed to be checked out and stopped.

There were several, maybe five or six 8 by 10 color photos of a young lady, fifteen or sixteen years old from the look of her. She was a strawberry blond, petite and slender with average looks. The only thing striking about her was her obviously pregnant in profile belly, she looked like she was in about her fourth or fifth month, her smile was straight out at the camera. She looked happy, several of the shots had what Batman assumed were friends with their arms around her, all sharing in the good news such as it was.

There was a used over the counter pregnancy test, showing a positive reading in the envelope.

There was a (probably stolen) medical report from Thomas Wayne Free Clinic stating that Melanie Warfield (minor) was estimated to be in her seventeenth week of gestation with a single and viable male fetus, all signs normal and no apparent complications. There was a strong recommendation that the mother take prenatal vitamins and she was given a one month supply with orders to make a follow up appointment in a month.

The report, dated the day before, was signed Leslie Thompkins, MD.

There was a hand written noted, written on a sheet of notebook paper, unevenly torn from it's spiral binding; "Rob—what are we going to do? Melanie."

"May I ask if Robin knows this young lady?"

"Not that I'm aware of, no." Obviously if they really were or had been close, she would have a better way of getting in contact with him than what amounted to a general delivery mail drop. "I'll speak to him about this, but I suspect she's hoping that he'll be an easy solution to her situation." And he was gone.

Gordon, nodded. Yes, this was probably some kind of blackmail or extortion attempt and would be settled soon enough.

Unless the boy had a one night stand Batman didn't know about.

* * *

"Dick, have you ever seen this girl before?" Bruce put the photos on the boy's desk, covering the calculus text book.

"No, why?"

The hand written note, along with the medical report were placed on top of the pictures. "I just left Jim Gordon, these were received at Headquarters about two hours ago, special delivery and addressed to you. Explanation?"

Dick read the notes, looked at the color 8 by 10's again. "She wants money, that's my guess."

"You don't know her?"

"No."

"Never met her, even in passing?"

"Not that I remember." He leafed through the various papers again, pausing at Leslie's notes. "Why, do you think I may have slept with her and forgotten?"

"I think it's easy to accept an invitation and forget to protect yourself."

Dick gave him a look which spoke volumes. "Be serious. I'm not that stupid and I'm not that desperate."

Bruce decided not to address the implications that comment brought up. "Fine. We'll ignore her and maybe she'll go away."

"Y'know, it might be a better idea to ask Leslie about her. She may have some idea why I've been singled out by (he glanced at the name) Melanie. I know she won't want to talk about it because of patient/doctor confidentiality, but maybe she'll help if we promise to keep it quiet." Bruce nodded, he was going to do that anyway, but it would be a good idea to not waste any time. "I'll go over." Dick checked the clock, eight-thirty. "She's probably still there, I'll drive over now."

"Fine." Bruce nodded, there was no reason why Dick couldn't handle this himself.

"Okay, back later." Dick clicked off the lights, grabbed his jacket and was walking into the clinic twenty minutes later. "Hi, Dr. Leslie, do you maybe have a few minutes? I need to ask you about something."

"Of course, for you I do, always."

He noticed that she was giving him an odd look and he didn't like the feeling in the pit of his stomach. But..."Can you tell me anything about this?" He handed her the letter and pictures.

Taking her time, Leslie went through the photos and read the note. "Excuse me a moment." She returned in a minute or so with a patient file, sat down and looked though it. "You know the privacy laws prohibit me from talking about this with you, don't you?"

He nodded and waited for her to continue.

"Young, better dressed than my usual customer so I assume she's from a well off or comfortable family and is afraid to go to her family doctor. Unfortunately that's common enough. This test result is accurate and so is the information she gave you." She gave him a direct look. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Just that I've never met her and had nothing to do with this."

"Is that the truth?"

"Yes."

Leslie regarded him for a moment then nodded once. "I believe you. So what are you going to do about this?"

"I guess I'll ignore it at least for now."

"That may not be the best idea; you've been in public long enough to know what the press will do if they get a hold of the story—and you know they will."

Yes, he knew. "So what are you saying, that I should call her or make a statement or hold a press conference or something?"

"The best defense is usually a good offense but you decide for yourself what to do. Talk to Bruce and Alfred. See what suggestions you get from the JLA members, you know some of those men have been threatened with this sort of thing over the years. Don't make any hasty decisions because you know that. At least initally, public opinion will be siding with the girl."

"But this is about more than just PR."

Leslie nodded, Dick was savvy enough to know what's what. "Of course, but it's a part of the equation, especially since perceptions will extend to the other Titans and the entire hero community, based on what you decide to do and how you handle this."

"Did she make another appointment with you?"

"I'm not sure, I did recommend that she did, but a lot of these girls, they just don't get the care they need."

"Let me know, okay?"

* * *

Four days later another special delivery letter appeared at GCPD, addressed to Robin, marked personal and delivered to Gordon. "Batman? I'll leave this for you in the usual place."

Robin was reading it by eight-thirty that evening, standing on the roof of police headquarters.

_'I guess that maybe you didn't get my last note to you so I'm trying again. I'll give this right to Commissioner Gordon's secretary and ask her to be sure that you see it __so don't go pretending that it's lost or something__, okay?_

_Anyway, when I realized that I'm really late and couldn't pretend that I'd miscounted or something I took a home test (which was enclosed). It came up positive so I went to the Free Clinic and the doctor there told me that I'm like __so __pregnant (copies of the clinic tests were also enclosed, along with an ultrasound). She says that I'm like four and a half months gone and I'm starting to show. I know my mom is going to notice any day now, even though she doesn't believe that I'd ever get knocked up and is going to pitch a major jackass fit._

_So I'm as sure that it's yours and I'm thinking that maybe I shouldn't have told Katherine about it because she's going to tell __everyone__ and then we're screwed and not in a good way. We need to meet and talk about what we're going to do._

_I need to know what __you're__ going to do—are you going to help or are you going to be an asshole?_

_That would really piss off my parents. And me._

_CALL ME._

_Mel.'_

Robin handed the letter over to Batman without bothering to say anything. It was pretty self-explanatory, right?

"You're sure that you've never met this girl?"

Dick rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Oh, _please._"

Batman didn't say anything, just studied the note and it's enclosures.

"I'm open to suggestions here."

"First of all, I'd suggest that you meet the girl but don't go alone and tape the conversation. Get a read on her, see if you think she wants money or if she's delusional or both." He folded the note and secured it in his costume. "I'll see what I can learn from this."

"F'God'ssake. She's pregnant, Leslie confirmed that. I don't know if I can prove it, but I've never met her and I've sure as hell never... What else are you going to learn from that?"

"That's what I intend to find out."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Part Two**

"Roy, get your useless ass in here, goddammit!"

Roy slouched into the living room, bowl of chili in hand, chewing. "Y'wansumthin?"

""How about an explanation?" Ollie was holding a letter in his hand, or at least that's what it looked like. There were a few other papers on the hall table, along with the other, unopened, mail but his source of annoyance was clearly whatever the hell it was he was holding.

"Explain what?"

"Who this girl I've never heard of you seem to have knocked up."

That got Roy's attention, not that he'd admit it. As casually as possible he took the offending page and skimmed through it then looked at the other sheets that had apparently come with the cover page. Picking up the half finished bowl he started out, back to the kitchen. "It's bullshit, don't worry about it."

"'You sure?"

"Yes."

Ollie considered for a moment the nodded. "Well, good. Look, I've got a date with Dinah, 'be back late so don't wait up."

"'Kay." Finally going into the kitchen for seconds on the chili Roy showed no reaction to the letter and waited ten minutes until Ollie was safely out the door and likely gone at least til morning before going to take a closer look. Reality being what it was it seemed a good idea to check and see if this might actually hold water or not.

The picture didn't look like anyone he'd ever met, the pregnancy test looked real but that didn't mean anything.

But, never say never, right? "I doubt it but you never know...maybe." So since Ollie was gone it might not be a bad idea to see what he could find out about the girl. The fact that he didn't remember her didn't really mean anything. Hell's bells—he didn't remember lots of things. So, making a mental note of the return address he printed out directions on the computer, surprised to see the place was in one of the tonier suburbs of Gotham.

Well, whatever. He hung there sometimes. It could happen, right?

Katherine Walker. No, didn't ring a bell but that didn't mean anything either. Searching his memory he tried to come up with a time and place where he—or rather Speedy—could have hooked up with her.

Gotham, so it probably involved Grayson.

Okay, Grayson and Gotham maybe four or five months ago. That would have been when the Titans had managed to stop Cheshire from poisoning the Gotham Reservoir—a much harder gig than they'd thought it would be. Though the girl was hot and there was no two ways about that but this Katherine chick, no. Not even close and even if he were desperate he couldn't see himself hooking up with her, no matter how high or drunk he was.

No way, no how. It was a scam.

Probably.

* * *

"Wallace, don't tell me that you're going out _again_."

"I won't be long, Mom. I just have to get a book from the library. I have that history paper due this week."

"Well, please don't be late. I swear, you don't get enough sleep to keep cat alive."

"Don't cats sleep like twenty hours a day?"

"Don't be fresh, young man."

"Sorry. I won't be late, I promise." Changing into his Kid Flash costume at super speed as he turned the corner at the end of the walk and took off for New York as fast as he could—which is saying a lot. The letter was sitting addressed to Kid Flash, c/o the Central City PD was picked up for him by his Uncle Barry then turn over a few minutes ago.

Cripes, he'd never, _ever_ done _anything_ like that with a girl but he knew no one would believe it and then there'd be a major mess needing to be cleaned up and fast.

And his parents could never find out. Ever.

Even if it was, as Roy would say, BS, they couldn't know he'd been dragged into something as gross as this. Getting a girl pregnant while he was still in high school?

Just—God. He'd never, ever; he just _wouldn't._

He had to think. Think. He couldn't tell Uncle Barry because then he'd tell his parents and that couldn't happen. He could call...he could call...of course; he couldn't call anyone. Doubling his speed he shifted his direction away from New York to Gotham. Dick would know what to do.

Dick was always calm. Dick always had a plan. Dick would keep his mouth shut.

He had to talk to Dick.

Now.

* * *

"Forgive me, your Majesty, but I've received troubling news from our ambassador in Washington regarding Prince Garth."

"What's is it this time?" Clearly his Majesty held his Heir Apparent in less than stellar regard.

"He's received a communication from a young lady, a surfacer who seems to have become pregnant and is claiming that His Highness is the responsible party."

King Orin stared the submissive man into further submission through sheer dint of his expression. "A surface, that's the best he can do? Pathetic."

Well, sir, His Excellency feels that this needs to be confirmed or denied with some assurance of accuracy."

"And?"

"And he feels that, as King, it might be preferable if you were the one to discuss something of this delicacy with Hid Highness."

Orin resumed his stare.

"...Please, Your Majesty. The ambassador is concerned about adverse publicity interferring with the treaty negotiations."

"Where is he?"

"The ambassador?"

"Idiot."

The man wasn't sure who the idiot was the King was talking about, him or the Prince but did his best. "His Excellency is in Washington, sir."

Glare of death. "Garth."

"I believe that he's in that headquarters he shares with his Titan friends."

Orin glanced at the phone, the messenger immediately got the young Prince on the line and handed the device to the King. "If this is true I'll eviserate you, is that understood?"

"Huh? Arthur, wha? What are you talking about?" Garth sounded like he'd just been woken from a deep sleep.

"Call Sismond in Washington now and give him your excuses—and if the report I just received is true I will be _severely_ displeased." He cut the connection, leaving Garth to wonder what the hell was going on as he dutifully dialed the Embassy's number.

* * *

"So, Dick, you know anything about this? I mean, seriously it's a little suspicious that we've all been targeted at the same time. I can see _me_ getting some girl pregnant but you're so anal that you'd probably wear three condoms and make sure she was on the pill and then sign yourself up for a vasectomy."

"Roy..."

"And Garth. C'mon, the only girl he's ever touched is Tula and ever since she died the most he's done is play with himself, I'd stake my life on it. Of course, I've heard that dolphins can get pretty horny and I suspect that he might be..."

"Roy, shut up and for once in your life think, okay? All four of us were targeted, but why us and why now? Why not just you or me? And Garth; seriously, no one knows anything about Garth's private life or even anything about the sex-lives of the Atlanteans. For all most people know they swim upstream and spawn then die."

"...They don't?"

"Roy, shut up. It's probably just a blckmail thing—that would make the most sense."

"Yeah, but if this goes public, we're screwed." Roy picked an apple from the centerpiece in the Manor's kitchen. "Or not screwed. We'll have all the cons without the pros.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Part Three**

_People Magazine_

"_It's true. Robin and I were together last summer and, um, it's his baby." Melanie Warfield blushed appealingly. "We haven't talked about it yet but I know he'll be wonderful." She lowered her eyes, shining with love and happiness. "He is wonderful."_

"_We met on the beach out at the Hamptons, it was this incredibly beautiful day and there was this big cook out and he was there, all the Titans were. That was the beginning and then we were together whenever he could get away. I've been trying to get in touch with him to let him know but it's not that easy; he changes his phone every few weeks and the letters I've sent care of the police in Gotham, I don't know, I just hope he got them." She giggled. "I guess he knows now, right?"_

"_And Speedy, he's just so amazing! I don't think I've ever had more fun or laughed more with any guy I've ever met!" Katherine Walker, Katie to her friends—joined in. She, too, is expecting and waiting for the Teen Titan to respond to her attempts to let him know that he's about to become a father._

_Ashley Wilson and Janie Rizzoli, the other two young ladies arrived late, slightly breathless, and took their places around the table. All four girls are close friends, fresh-faced, pretty and clean-cut. They are all sophomores at East Hampton High School and live in nearby Montauk. _

"_We weren't going to say anything until we were sure, have a secret but, the reason we're late...Ash and I are pregnant, too!" This brought squeals and hugs from all four girls and several long minutes before they were able to talk to this reporter again._

"_Excuse me, but all four of you are pregnant by the four Titan boys?" This was met by another round of giggles._

_Ashley Wilson, insisting that her pregnancy owes itself to her link up with Aqualad says that 'He's the sweetest, most incredible and his eyes are—awesome. We spent a lot of time swimming together." This was followed by more giggling and blushes._

_Jane Rizzoli, Janie to everyone, credits Kid Flask with her condition and yes, all four girls are due within several weeks of one another and insist that it wasn't planned._

_Melanie, the seeming leader of the group explained. "It's just that they're all so awesome and handsome and nice and, 'you know...! And it was summer and everything and they were so hot, God, who wouldn't?" _

_Katherine added, "My parents are going to kill me and I don't know what school will say, if they'll let us stay or not but I'm going to have it—I've already decided that." _

_When asked what they would do if the Titans denied responsibility the girls agreed that wouldn't happen, "Not them, they're so straight and honest and stuff!"_

_And would they insist on blood tests and DNA testing to prove fatherhood? "Only if we have to, but the guys know."_

_Efforts to contact the Titans for comment on this story were unsuccessful. _

_* * *_

The meeting between the four male Titans and their respective mentors was being held at Wayne Manor for privacy, there was no reason to involve any of the other Justice Leaguers until it was established what was going on. The only exception was the missing Aquaman who had opted to stay in Atlantis and was a voice on the speaker phone. It was, at best, an uncomfortable gathering.

Batman started things. "Is it true or not?" The full Batglare was focused on Robin.

"Not as far as I'm concerned, it isn't."

"Wally?"

"No way. I'd never do anything like..._that._"

"Garth?"

"I've never, not with a surfacer. I swear, never." He looked both appalled and embarrassed by the very thought.

"Roy?"

"Probably not."

All eyes turned.

"C'mon, it was summer, it was a beach party and I'm only human, okay? But probably not. She doesn't look familiar."

The eyes stayed on him with a few sighs of exasperation.

"I'm sure not. The girl I...she was a brunette. I'm sure of that." Silence. "I'll take a blood test, okay? I'm good it wasn't me with any of those girls." More silence. "Really." Ollie just shook his head.

"So you're all denying that you could be party to this mess?" They boys all nodded with varying degrees of humiliation. "Then, if you're sure, that's the position that we'll take. You may all have to submit to questioning and testing, but so long as you can pass I think that you should cooperate. Agreed?"

"Yeah. " "Sure." "Okay." "I guess."

"Fine, we'll set up a press conference tomorrow and I expect all four of you to be there."

But..."

"What, Robin?"

"But if we all say we have nothing to do with this and these girls are probably looking for attention or money or whatever, I mean, aren't we innocent until proven guilty?"

Batman took a beat for some reason then, "Don't be ridiculous, you're not that naïve. I'll let you all know when and where the press conference will be."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**  
Part Four**

Entertainment Tonight, a young woman is the host, the four girls, Melanie, Katherine, Ashley and Jane are seated arranged beside her, two on either side of the woman. "We're here to refute, point by point, the comments and statements made by the Titan boys in this afternoon's press conference. With me are the young ladies who have announced that they are each carrying a child fathered by one of the Titans. The first clip, please."

_The fills with a shot of a talking head asking a question and Robin responding. The other three Titan boys are sitting on chairs in camera range._

"_Robin, so you don't deny that you were at a beach party in the Hamptons a few months ago and met the young ladies who have leveled these accusations against you and your friends?"_

"_I don't deny that we were at a beach party last summer, no. There are pictures of us being there and we've already said that we were there for a charity event. I do deny, we all deny that we had anything to do with any of them being pregnant."_

"_Are you willing to be tested to prove that?"_

"_Yes, we all are."_

In the ET studio the hostess turned to the girls, "Well, ladies, you just hears that; would you all be willing to undergo testing to prove that the Titans are the fathers?"

The girls exchanged looks then Melanie answered. "Sure, why not? We know what happened and even if the guys want to skip out, that doesn't change anything."

"But it sucks that they'd do that." Ashley looked like she might cry. "I mean, you play you pay, right? Garth, Aqualad, said that he'd be there for me, he promised and now he's...it just sucks, is all."

"Have any of you seen any of the boys since last summer?"

Katherine smiled, "I talked to Speedy last night, he called me and he sounded happy about the baby—surprised, but happy and he said he'd pay for everything."

"Really?"

"Absolutely, he's so incredibly sweet! I mean, he was surprised, sure, but as soon as he had a minute to kind of digest it, he was really happy. He was even saying that he hopes it's a boy so he can train him, teach him to be like the next generation of Titans; that would be awesome!"

_Another clip was shown. "Robin, all of you deny knowing these girls?"_

"_Yes. We might have met them, been introduced in a crowd but that would have been the extend of it. I know I don't remember any of them, if they were even there." He looked at his friends. "Do any of you remember them?" There were three head shakes 'no'._

Back to the ET studio: "What about the boys assertion that they have no memories of meeting any of you?"

"'Sucks." Janie put her hand over her mouth. "I mean, it's not right but I guess they're just surprised like Kathrine said but I can understand it; they're all famous and they're gonna get lots of bad publicity when people hear what they did and how they want to just skip."

"Yeah, 'makes sense, even if it's a crappy thing to do."

"Guys, y'know?"

The host went on. "So, assuming that the Titans really are the father's, and assuming that they may not want to marry you ladies will you expect child support from them? Do you want them in the baby's lives?"

Janie nodded. "Of course, it's their right and it's like, they should want to help, right?"

_Another clip. "If, by some chance the paternity tests came up positive, would you accept responsibility?"_

_Wally answered, "Of course we would, but we're not the father's so it's a non-starter."_

"_You're united on this?"_

"_It has nothing to do with being united, it's just a simple fact; we didn't get them pregnant and so we have nothing to accept responsibility for."_

"_So you'd be willing to submit DNA samples?"_

"_Of course." Robin, as always, was in charge._

"Girls, your reaction?"

Janie cried, the others going to her with hugs.

"You said that you'd all be willing to undergo paternity testing and so have the Titans and so did the boys and I've been informed that they've already given hair samples for that use. When would you agree to have your part the testing done?"

"I guess as soon as the babies are born, right?"

Host lady; "Are you aware that you could be tested now?"

Melanie. "Nh-uh. You have to get a sample from the baby when it's born. I learned that in health class."

"Actually there are two ways to be tested prenatally; you could either have amniocentesis* or CVS and have the results in about a week or so. You've all leveled some serious accusations against these boys, Are you girls willing to put an end to this? If you're right you deserve to have them contribute to their children and if you're mistaken they deserve to know that as well."

The girls looked at one another, hesitating until Kathrine asked, "What's CVS? Isn't that a pharmacy?"

The host smothered a smile. "Yes, but it's also a test; Chorionic Villus Sampling** and can also gather DNA information.* Would you be willing to have either test—under a doctor's full supervision, of course."**

**Katherine took a beat too long and Melanie answered with "Of course."**

**"Well then, if you young ladies are willing, we can take you over to a geneticist right now, would that be all right with you? It won't take long."**

**The camera was on, the red light and lens staring at them and catching every expression and nuance. "Uh, okay."**

**Five minutes later, riding in a studio limo, the girls whispered to one another. "Christ, what are you going to do now?"**

**"They said it would be a week before we get the results. We have a week to figure it out."**

**"God, Mel, we're so incredibly screwed."**

**"Not necessarily."**

*Amniocentesis**:** This test is performed in the second trimester, anywhere from the 14th-20th weeks of pregnancy. During this procedure, the doctor uses ultrasound to guide a thin needle into your uterus, through your abdomen. The needle draws out a small amount of amniotic fluid, which is tested. Risks include a small chance of harming the baby and miscarriage. Other side effects may include cramping, leaking of amniotic fluid, and vaginal bleeding. A doctor's consent is needed to do this procedure for paternity testing.

Chorionic Villus Sampling** (CVS):** This test consists of a thin needle or tube which a doctor inserts from the vagina, through the cervix, guided by an ultrasound, to obtain chorionic villi. Chorionic villi are little finger-like pieces of tissue attached to the wall of the uterus. The chorionic villi and the fetus come from the same fertilized egg, and have the same genetic makeup. This testing can be done earlier in pregnancy from the 10th-13th weeks. A doctor's consent is needed to do this procedure for paternity testing.

* * *

"Dick, I just heard that the girls have all submitted to paternity testing, we should know for sure in five or six days."

"Bruce, f'god'ssake—we _already_ know, okay?" Annoyed, Dick took the stairs back up to the Manor three steps at a time.

Bruce didn't say anything, just turned back to the computer monitor. Naturally he believed Dick and trusted that the girl, Melanie, was lying. Wally was probably telling the truth as well, he was, after all, Wally. It were the other Titans he questioned.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five**

Naturally the program ran nationwide that evening. It showed the girls being interviewed and their answers inter spaced with the interview the Titan boys had sat for earlier that morning (with credit and thanks given to the Today show for the footage). It showed the girls agreeing to testing and then being herded into a limo and on to a lab, all wearing maternity tops. It hit You Tube five seconds later and scored over a million hits by breakfast with the title _'Titan's Baby Mamas Interview'_

The public reaction was fast and furious.

"How dare that big shot reporter browbeat those poor girls into going to some doctor they don't even know and on on television, no less!"

"Well, it's not right. Those girls, they looked like babies themselves to me and here they'll about to have babies; it's just not right and that's all I have to say about it."

"Boys, they want one thing from a girl and as soon as they get it they move on to the next, I don't care if they're famous or not, they're all the same."

"If any one of those kids, the boys or the girls were mine I'd have them locked in their rooms until they were forty!"

"Great role models, oh yeah."

"Famous is as famous does. These kids think they can get away with anything just because they're famous—they should be ashamed of themselves."

"If you ask me, those girls were asking for it and that's all there is to it—did you see how they were dressed?"

"Like I care?"

At the Wayne breakfast table the conversation was trying for normal. "Pass the eggs, please." A bite of food. "Dick, see what kind of mood you sense in school today regarding the interview. I'm suspecting that the Titans may benefit from some backlash if the girls are seen as opportunistic."

"Okay."

Bruce looked up. "Just 'okay'?"

"What else do you want me to say? It's a waiting game until the results come back, right?"

"Only if there's a chance that you've been lying to me about what really happened on the beach last summer."

"I'm not."

"...But the others may be?"

"I know what they told me and I know what I believe. We'll see, that's all."

Bruce declined to comment further.

Walking the halls of East Hampton High School, the four girls were the topic of the day again; they were the topic of the week and not just with the other students. Parents called, demanding to know what was being done to make sure that they didn't become unofficial role models for impressionable kids. Reporters camped out just off school property, causing the local police to set up barricades and maintain a presence. A memo was sent to the entire faculty and staff requesting that no one speak to the press.

The Tuesday morning PTA meeting was a sounding board about the lack of morals of today's young people and what could be done about it—and just who seduced whom? Should the girls be taken to task for throwing themselves at celebrities or should some kind of lawsuit be appropriate against the Titan boys for corrupting the morals of child—even though they were all minors themselves. Could statuary rape charges be pending?

And should the girls be allowed to stay in school? What kind of message would that be sending to the younger students to have them parading around with their bellies and later pushing strollers?

'Absolutely not! I won't have Jessica being subjected to this kind of thing, not to mention that our kids are being forced to go to a school which has become a virtual armed camp—this is impossible!"

"Have you all seen the circus the place has become?"

"I saw three students being interviewed by Katie Couric and she was asking if there was a concerted plan for the girls to all become pregnant at the same time like that other school—where was that? You know the one, fifteen or twenty girls all decided to have babies at the same time. I was appalled!"

"I think we need to support these girls, no matter what the results of those tests are—they're going to need help and..."

"You would say that! I won't have my son sitting in a classroom with them, I've looked into St. Joe's and Jason will be moving as soon as the arrangements are made."

"Changing schools won't help, Mary—they all have the same problems."

"Back on the immediate problem, please. Should the Board allow the girls to continue to take classes when their presence is this disruptive?"

"The media will die down in a few weeks."

"Not if those Titan boys are the fathers, it won't."

"Sue is right. If those kids are the fathers then it will just get worse."

"So maybe we should wait and see what the results are. Does that sound reasonable? The tests are supposed to be back in a few days; what if we reconvene next Tuesday and decide then?"

Murmurs and reluctant nods. "All right. If we can move on, the next order of business is the car wash for the senior class...ladies, please."

* * *

A couple of days later Robin wasn't sure he was doing the right thing which is why he didn't tell Batman that the case he was working on wasn't in Chelsea like he'd said. Instead he drove out to Montauk, to Melanie's house and rang the bell. A man, presumably her father, answered and opened the door when he saw who was there. He seemed both embarrassed and angry, speaking without preamble.

"I'll call her."

"Thank you." He stood in the entrance hall while the man went upstairs, a minute or two later Melanie came down, looking nervous and apprehensive but detirmined. And she was starting to show. "Could we go somewhere to talk?"

"You put one hand on her and I'll know."

"Daddy, it's okay. We'll just be out back."

Seated on two separate chairs a few feet apart on the back patio, Melanie waited for Robin to start.

"You knew that none of you would be able to get away with this; why even try?"

She sniffed a little but it seemed more from the chill than from anything else. "I don't know."

"Sure you do; were you afraid to tell your boyfriends or did something happen you didn't want people to know?"

"Like we were raped or at some big party or something like that? No, just, y'know, just being stupid and, y'know..."

"Why me, why my friends?"

"You seemed—nice. I don't know, I guess we thought that none of you would fight it."

Robin stared at her for a moment; she was serious. Incredible. "The test results should be ready tomorrow; we're not going to make any announcements, are you?"

"Like we have any choice." It seemed like reality was starting to sink in a little. "The reporters are already calling and asking what time the press conference will be."

"But, you didn't really answer, why me and my friends?"

"Because you were here, going to a few parties and hanging around town about the same time and a lot of people saw you, it seemed like it might be a good idea." She mumbled a bit. "Okay, maybe it wasn't but we were all scared, okay?" There was a pause then, "It's really going to hit the fan, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"I don't guess you'd be willing to say anything, would you? I mean like maybe you understand or forgive us?"

"No."

She squirmed a little in her chair then came back at him with real anger. "You'll just like go on and in a few weeks this will be yesterday's news for you, right? Besides, I'm guessing that you guys all must have some serious money behind you and even if you don't, you'd be able to get it if you had to. It wouldn't have been a big deal to people like you, you'd just sign a check every month and that would be all you'd have to do."

"Are you serious? 'You think we have money behind us and so you all decided to dump this on us? This was just about child support?" Christ.

"Not just that—you don't know what it's like to be..."

"To be what? Broke? Unloved? Lonely? Caught in a mistake? Everyone..."

"Not people like _you_ and all the richies who come out here for weekends, you have no idea. They all show up in their designer clothes and their fancy cars and..."

"Don't even try that. I'm not going to feel sorry for you and neither are my friends. You and the other girls lied, did everything you could think of to trap us, blackmail us and make us look like crap to our families and the public. You gave interviews saying what we were like in bed and generally totally tried to screw us over. Did any of us even meet any of you last summer?"

She was defeated and she knew it, her voice losing all it's anger and now quiet. "I saw you on the beach a couple of times, you looked nice." She sounded almost wistful.

Robin didn't say anything, just gave her a look that said it all; she and her friends were bitches and he wasn't going to lift a finger to help them when the test results were announced in the morning. He got up and walked through the house and out to his bike, not saying anything to Melanie's parents who were watching from the family room window and probably listening to ever word as well. Back at the Manor he went directly down to the cave, working out on the bars for three solid hours until his arms ached and trembled then refused to support him any longer.

* * *

_'The results we've all been waiting for with bated breath are finally in and...The Titan boys are all in the clear, each and every one of the young ladies are admitting that the entire episode was all a story to make sure that their not yet born babies will be taken care of while they took us all for a ride. There hasn't been any official statement from Titan's Tower but I think it's a safe bet that they're breathing easier this evening. Matt, back to you._

_Maggie, are there any signs that there may be charges filed against the girls or any kind of official repercussions?_

_There haven't been any announcements or statements but I suspect that we may not have heard the end of this quite yet._

_How far along are the girls now, do we know?_

_I'm told that they're all between four and a half and five months at this point. We also don't know yet of East Hampton high School will allow them to continue attending classes._

_It sounds like you're right about this not being the end of this story. Thank you and now, a check of the weather...'_

"So that's it?" Wally looked over to Robin, seated on the far end of the couch.

"That's it."

"No apology?"

"'Doesn't look like it."

"What about a lawsuit for defamation of character, false accusations, slander, libel and whatever else we can come up with? This was serious bullshit y'know."

"Let it go, Roy. It's over."

"Bullshit—it's been filed, it's on the Internet, it will never be over, Junior. This will be biting us all in our collective asses for frigging ever."

Robin gave him a steady and slightly apathetic look. "We've been through crap before and will be again. It is what it is."

* * *

Four months later new mother Melanie took a break from diapers and formula to open her mail. The letter from the high priced law firm in Gotham told her that after due consideration no charges will be filed against her or the other three young ladies so long as they all agreed to maintain a media silence on the matter so far as it pertained to any of the four Titan boys.

She signed her copy of the agreement, placed it in the enclosed stamped envelope and reached for a clean diaper.

3/6/10


End file.
